GEOL316-spring2008-syllabus

Course Syllabus: GEOL316- Sedimentation and Stratigraphy "Everything you always wanted to know about sedimentary rocks!"
Spring Semester, 2008
Dr. Norman R. King Office: SC2213, Ph. 812.464.1794 Email: nking@usi.edu
Lecture: TR - 10:30 to 11:45 AM Lab: R - 1:00 to 3:50 P
Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with what every geologist should know about sediments and sedimentary rocks, including these topics: How sedimentayr materials are produced Soils and Paleosols Transportation, deposition and lithifaction of sediments Nomenclature and classification of sedimentary rocks Sedimentary bedding and structures Sedimentary environments of deposition, and major features of rocks and strata produced in each setting Post-depositional changes in sediments and sedimentary rocks Stratigraphic relationships (vertical and lateral changes) Lithostratigraphic classification Seismic stratigraphy and sequences Subsurface stratigraphic data Biostratigraphy and correlation Tectonic framework and sedimentary fill of varied types of basins Petroleum geology- concepts and exploration Labs will emphasize recognition, classification and interpretation of sedimentary rocks in hand specimen and thin section. After that we will look at rocks at outcrop and larger scales, including visiting outcrops and analysis of a drill core. Then we will learn about and work with geophysical subsurface data, which can tell us about rocks in places where they are not exposed (for most rock units about 99% of the area where they occur-some rock bodies are not exposed at the earths surface at all!); we will use subsurface data to make maps showing thickness and facies variations.
Lectures
Week	`Topic`	Reading
1	Introduction; weathering and soils (paleosols) non-epiclastic conglomerates and breccias	Ch. 1
2	Sediment transport and deposition	Ch. 2
3	Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks	`Ch. 5`
4	Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks (cont’d.) Quiz 1 (Feb. 7, 2008)	Ch. 5, 6
5	Carbonate sedimentary rocks	Ch. 6
6	Carbonate sedimentary rocks (cont’d.) Quiz 2 (Feb 21, 2008)	Ch. 6
7	`Other sedimentary rocks`	Ch. 7
8	`Sedimentary textures and Structures`	Ch. 3, 4
	Spring Break (3/10 to 3/15)
9	Midterm Hour exam (Mar. 18) Sedimentary environments of deposition	`Ch. 8-11`
10	`Sedimentary Environments (cont'd.)`	`Ch. 8-11`
11	Lithostratigraphy	Ch. 12
12	Seismic and Sequence Stratigraphy Quiz 3 (Apr. 8)	Ch. 13
13	Chronostratigraphy & geologic time	Ch. 17, 18
14	Basin analysis & sedimentary tectonics Quiz 4 (Apr. 22)	Ch. 16
15	Basin Analysis (cont'd.)	Ch. 16
16	Final Exam (May 6, 10:30 AM)

Laboratories
Date	Subject
1/17	Paleosols; Non-epiclastic conglomerates and breccias
1/24	Grain size analysis
1/31	Siliciclastics: conglomerates, sandstones, mudrocks (hand samples and thin sections)
2/7	Siliciclastic hand specimens (cont’d.)
2/14	Lab Practical Quiz; Carbonates- Limestones and Dolostones (hand samples and thin sections)
2/21	Carbonates (cont'd.)
2/28	Other sed rocks- evaporites, bedded cherts, phosphorites, carbonaceous rock, iron rich sed rocks
3/6	Lab Midterm Practical
3/10-3/15	Spring Break
3/20	Core description and interpretation
3/27	Core description (cont'd.)
4/3	Geophysical logs
4/10	Geophysical logs (cont’d.)
4/17	Geophysical logs (cont’d.)
4/24	Lab Mini-Practical Quiz; Subsurface mapping
5/1	Lab Final (comprehensive: rock hand samples, thin sections, geophyscal logs, subsurface mapping)

Textbook: Boggs, Sam, Jr., 2006, Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 4th ed.: Prentice Hall, 726 p. Lab assignments will be distributed in class.

Grading:
midterm exam --------------------------------	100 pts
Final exam ------------------------------------	125 pts
2 lecture quizzes @40 pts ------------------	80 pts
weekly lab exercises ------------------------	60
field trip ---------------------------------------	10
3 midterm lab practicals --------------------	75
lab final ---------------------------------------	50
Total	500

Scale:
90-100%	A
80-89.9%	B
65-79.9%	C
55-64.9%	D
<55%	F